A Morning at Abberton Reservoir

29th November 2022

Another trip to Abberton and first our customary breakfast stop on the Layer Breton causeway. The Heron was still in its customary spot on the weir along with a pair of Egyptian Geese.

Along the banks were several Pied Wagtails, but this beautiful Grey Wagtail caught my eye. along with a Lapwing showing it kaleidoscope of colours in the sun.

This is a common sight at Abberton, a group of Shovelers having a feeding frenzy. They form into a tight group then swim round in circles forming a vortex in the water which brings food to the surface, an excellent example of cooperative feeding.

Goosander numbers are still building up and so far seem to be concentrating on the part of the reservoir between the two causeways.

The Great White Egrets are now getting used to people on the causeway and will carry on feeding without any concern, allowing some nice shots in the shadows which shows off their plumage.

But the star of the show today was the Yellow-billed Pintail, a duck from South America which has obviously escaped from a local wildfowl collection. Abberton seems to attract more than its fair share of escaped wildfowl and I am not sure where they come from. On my first visit in the 1960s I saw a Sarus Crane and the locals used to say that there were more exotic wildfowl outside Colchester Zoo than inside. No idea where these more recent ones come from.

At the Layer de la Haye causeway the huge raft of ducks including the Scaup and Long-tailed Duck had disappeared leaving the reservoir fairly bare apart from this female Goldeneye that was feeding close in to the sluice.

But the best performer today was the single Redshank which was far more confiding than usual and allowed a number of close-ups to be taken.

Abberton never disappoints!!